Writing Wild Issue 8

Words from the Wild Women Writers' Salons

Midsummer may be over, but there are still five more wonderful Wild Women Writers’ Salons to go in our memoir/non-fiction programme. Join me for Salon 9: The Body Speaks: Belonging and the Art of Naming with guest authors Polly Atkin, Louise Kenward, and Alyssa Greybeal as we take a deep dive into the intimate relationship between our physical selves and the names we carry. We will explore what it means to belong in our bodies, the significance of naming in self-expression, and the essential role of writing and storytelling in this journey. 

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A Look Back…

"Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing. Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden - in all the places."

-- Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden. 

Salon 8 was a regenerative and nourishing exploration of our natural seasons. Thank you to Rebecca Beattie, Alice Tarbuck, and Lia Leendertz for bringing their wisdom and wonder to the evening and sharing their insight into how ancient practices can be integrated into our daily lives to sustain us through our creative and personal cycles.

A magical way to mark our midsummer point of the year!

(Remember, you can catch up with this salon and all previous salons by upgrading to our paid subscription.)

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Coming Soon…

Wild Women Writers’ Salon 9

The Body Speaks: Belonging and the Art of Naming

Thursday 25th July 7 pm BST (GMT +1)

Online

Join us for Salon 9: The Body Speaks: Belonging and the Art of Naming — a deep dive into the intimate relationship between our physical selves and self-expression, the names we carry, and what it means to ‘come home’ to a chronically ill body.  

With guest authors Polly Atkin, Louise Kenward, and Alyssa Greybeal.

Thursday 25th July at 7 pm UK BST/GMT+1 (Online)

The event is recorded with English subtitles and has captions enabled.

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Introducing our Salon Guests

Dr Polly Atkin

Polly Atkin is a multi-award-winning writer, essayist, and poet. She is the author of the poetry collections Basic Nest Architecture, which won a Northern Writers’ Award, and Much With Body, which was longlisted for the Laurel Prize, as well as Recovering Dorothy, the first biography to focus on Dorothy Wordsworth’s later life and illness. Her latest book, The Company of Owls, is out later in 2024 with Elliot and Thompson.

A strong advocate for the need for more disabled voices in the publishing industry, Polly co-founded the Open Mountain initiative at Kendal Mountain Festival, which seeks to centre voices currently at the margins of outdoor, mountain and nature writing. Born in Nottingham, Polly lives in Grasmere, Cumbria where she co-owns the wonderful Sam Reads Bookshop with her partner, Will.

Some of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better

In a fascinating blend of memoir, pathology, and nature writing, Some of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better is a personal exploration of narratives of health, the history of illness, and the realities of chronic illness within the context of the natural world and the idea of the "nature cure".

After years of unexplained health problems, Polly Atkin was finally diagnosed with two genetic chronic conditions in her thirties. Delving into the history of her two genetic conditions, she uncovers how these illnesses were managed (or not) in times gone by and explores how best to plan for her future. From medical misogyny and gaslighting, to the illusion of 'the nature cure', this essential, beautiful and deeply personal book examines how we deal with bodies that diverge from the norm, and why this urgently needs to change.

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Louise Kenward

Louise Kenward is a writer, artist, and psychologist. Editor of Moving Mountains: Writing Nature through Illness and Disability (published October 2023), her writing has also been featured in Women on Nature, The Polyphony, The Clearing, and Radio 3 (Landscapes of Recovery). In 2020, she set up ZebraPsych with the aim of raising awareness of energy-limiting chronic illness, and she co-produced the anthology Disturbing the Body (Boudicca). Louise was a Writer in Residence with Sussex Wildlife Trust (2021-2022) and is a postgraduate researcher at the Centre for Place Writing, Manchester Metropolitan University, where she is researching themes of post-viral illness in a coastal at-risk landscape (Romney Marshes).

Moving Mountains: Writing Nature through Illness and Disability

Moving Mountains is not about overcoming or conquering but about living with and connecting, shifting the reader's attention to the things easily overlooked by those who move through the world untroubled by the body that carries them.

Through twenty-five pieces, the writers of Moving Mountains offer a vision of nature encompassing the close-up, the microscopic, and the vast. From a single falling raindrop to the enormity of the north wind, this is nature experienced wholly and acutely, written from the perspective of disabled and chronically ill authors.

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Alyssa Greybeal

Alyssa Graybeal is a queer writer and cartoonist whose work focuses on the emotional landscape of living with chronic illness and disability, in particular the connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Floppy: Tales of a Genetic Freak of Nature at the End of the World is her first memoir and won the 2020 Red Hen Press Nonfiction Book Award. She has a BA from McGill University and an MLIS from Dalhousie University, and she works as an editor and writing coach. She lives in Astoria, Oregon.

Floppy: Tales of a Genetic Freak of Nature at the End of the World

When ten-year-old Alyssa is diagnosed with the rare genetic connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, she vows not to let it stop her. Unfortunately, her efforts to avoid being "too sensitive" lead her to neglect not only her health but other aspects of her life as well. Twenty years later, she’s finally forced to confront the reality of her condition head-on. When she finds herself tangled in an unwieldy combination of chronic pain, a library job for which she is particularly ill-suited, and her wife’s mystifying health problems, her body starts to unravel in ways she can no longer ignore. If pushing through is not the answer, what does homecoming to her floppy body look like?

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Introducing our Salon Host — Victoria Bennett

Victoria Bennett is a disabled writer, carer, and mother. A firm believer in everyone’s right to write their own story, she has dedicated much of her working life to nurturing spaces where people can do just that, founding Wild Women Press in 1999. When not juggling writing, care, and chronic illness, she can be found in Orkney, close to where the wild things grow, tending her new apothecary garden.

Her debut memoir, All My Wild Mothers: motherhood, loss, and an apothecary garden, was published by Two Roads in 2023. An intimate memoir of motherhood, grief and care, it offers a handbook on survival and a testimony to the love and radical hope that can grow in even the most broken places.

Nautilus Book Award Winner 2024.

‘A treasure map back to 'living' for those who have been away too long…’ — DONNA ASHWORTH, author of WILD HOPE

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What are the Wild Women Writers’ Salons?

The Wild Women Writers’ Salons are on the last Thursday of every month (except December) and include day and evening events. This programme focuses on memoir and creative nonfiction and runs until November 2024.

With a treasure chest of excellent writers from across the globe, these are different from your regular Zoom sessions or author events. Together, we're creating a welcoming and inspiring space to gather and engage in meaningful conversation and reflection, where writers can share and explore their inspirations and writing journeys.

Each salon will feature three (and sometimes four!) fantastic guest writers. Here’s a sneak peek of what you can expect:

• Dive deep into the world of words.

• Hear authors share their works.

• Get a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process.

• Real talk about publishing highs and lows.

• Engage in some heart-to-heart during the Q&A session.

Remember, ticket sales and paid subscriptions help value and pay all the fantastic people making these salons possible—from behind the scenes to the fabulous authors!

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• access to recordings of all the salons;

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• further reading/resources and book suggestions from our guest authors;

• writing prompts from our guest authors;

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• listed opportunities and courses;

• the chance to be part of a nurturing community of creative practice!

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